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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fall — the season
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. fall — to drop
  8. row — a line
  9. field — for sport
  10. game — a match
  11. scale — in music
  12. current — electric
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. field — a subject
  15. current — of water
  16. fall — to drop
  17. march — music
  18. game — wild animals
  19. scale — size or range
  20. row — to paddle
  21. current — happening now
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. fan — a supporter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com